DETROIT -- Drew Stanton has been waiting for his turn, and on Sunday he got it when he started for the Lions at Ford Field.

While the Lions lost, 24-20, to the Chicago Bears, the blame cannot be placed totally on Stanton's shoulders.

He completed 16 of 24 passes for 178 yards and one touchdown pass to Calvin Johnson. The key is he threw zero interceptions. He also ran five times for a dozen yards, including a 3-yard touchdown scamper.

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Stanton's quarterback rating of 102.4 is 20 points higher than the Lions' quarterback average rating in the season's first 11 games of 80.5.

"I felt good, I felt comfortable and obviously we have a lot of weapons. Jahvid (Best) is getting back and closer to being healthy and Mo (Morris) gave us a great chance, so against a great defense we were able to do some stuff and build on that," Stanton said.

Coach Jim Schwartz said Stanton did what they needed him to do offensively.

"He made a couple plays with his feet. He scored a touchdown on his feet. He got a first down with his feet. He got the ball in his playmakers' hands," Schwartz said.

Stanton (Farmington Hills Harrison) was a scrambling type of quarterback when playing at Michigan State. He was a second-round pick by the Lions in 2007. His only NFL start, previous to Sunday, was almost a year ago at San Francisco, when he was benched after throwing three interceptions and losing a fumble.

All week his teammates and coaches kept saying they had faith in Stanton, who was a better quarterback in his second year in this offense.

"I don't view myself differently. I think that's one thing that isn't going to change how I approach the game and how I've done everything has been building up to get opportunities like this," Stanton said. "So much of this league is making the most of your opportunity. Obviously, I didn't make the most of it because we didn't come away with a win, but there's stuff you can build off of. We'll go from there and try to get everything situated next week."

An official announcement has not been made, but expect Stanton to start again Sunday against the Green Bay Packers. Neither Matthew Stafford (shoulder) or Shaun Hill (broken finger) seem to be close to playing.

Smith injured

Late in the fourth quarter, cornerback Alphonso Smith attracted quite a crowd of trainers and medical staff while laying on the training table on the sidelines.

It appeared they were working on his right shoulder. He did not finish the game.

He seemed to be the only Lions' casualty of the game, although others could appear on Monday.

Home advantage?

Bears fans, in their orange garb, appeared to take up about half the seats in sold-out Ford Field on Sunday. When the Lions had the ball the Bears fans were loud.

Apparently the Lions had a plan for even this.

"You don't really get caught up in it. You hear it a little bit, especially toward the end of the game when you need a big stop it wasn't as loud," Stanton said. "... Chicago is a close town, four hours away. It wasn't surprising.

"We anticipated that might be an issue. We were ready to go to a silent count if we needed to. We were able to operate and not too much worry what the crowd was doing," he added.

Johnson sets records

Calvin Johnson's 46-yard touchdown reception at the end of the first half put the Lions up 17-14.

It was his 12th receiving touchdown of the season (12 games so far) which ties a career single-season high.

With the touchdown catch, he also became the first player in team history to record 12 receiving touchdowns in two separate seasons. Johnson also had a dozen in 2008.

And one more, that was his 33rd career receiving touchdown. He passed E. Cloyce Box (1949-50, 1952-53) for the most receiving touchdowns by a player in his first four seasons with the club.

Rayner's kick

Lions kicker Dave Rayner, who was signed to temporarily replace Jason Hanson, was 2 of 2 on field goals Sunday.

With his 50-yarder, he became the first Lions kicker not named Hanson or Eddie Murray to kick a 50-yard field goal since Errol Mann kicked a 52-yarder in 1973.

Odd sighting

After the game, the Detroit media was sitting in a press room waiting for Schwartz to hold his press conference.

All of a sudden, the Rev. Jesse Jackson pokes his head in the door and mumbles something about Chicago. He was also spotted in the Lions' locker room afterward.

Ins and outs

Defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch (neck) was out Sunday, which was no surprise. He was listed as doubtful on Friday's injury report. Vanden Bosch did not finish the Thanksgiving game and has not practiced since.

Wide receiver Bryant Johnson was healthy, but inactive. It's the second time in three games he has been benched. He was also inactive at Dallas.